Lost art?: Teens taught to drive a stick shift

By Chris Woodyard, USA TODAYAs teenagers lose interest in learning to drive -- why should they when they can just text their friends? -- the classic car industry is worried that it may run out of future customers.

After all, many among the young today may never have even ridden in a car with a stick shift and clutch, much less driven one.

So one outfit is trying to do something about it. Hagerty Insurance, which specializes in policies to protect classic cars, put on a one-day class for young drivers in Philadelphia last month to try to drum up interest.

That meant trying to teach them about something that they thought they would never encounter: stick shifts and clutches.

During the Hagerty Driving Experience, the 15- through 25-year-olds learned to operate manual transmissions on the vintage automobiles that they could take for a quick spin. Sounds like it was fun. Says Hagerty:

After 30 minutes of instruction in car basics, the participants got behind the wheel of classic cars for 15 minutes, navigating a closed course. Some of the rare vehicles were a 1930 Ford Model A, a classic 1966 Ford Mustang, a sporty 1974 Karmann Ghia and a pint-sized 1960 Austin Healey Sprite.

"As summer comes to a close, it's been great to educate kids about classic cars before they head back to school," said McKeel Hagerty, CEO of Hagerty Insurance.